"Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely." --Thomas Macaulay"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." -- Plato
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Name: Jeremiah
Country: United States
State: Arkansas
Metro: Bentonville
Birthday: 9/13/1982
Gender: Male


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Member Since: 3/14/2006

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Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Currently
Fallout 3
By Bethesda
see related

So...sweet.



Thursday, December 18, 2008

Currently
Left 4 Dead
By Electronic Arts
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A bit much?

Really...isn't this a little over the top.  When will we draw the line on racism?
Click here.

Also, in case anyone was wondering, I am playing Left 4 Dead for PC.  Great game.  I highly recommend it mostly for it's multiplayer goodness.  If you decide to get it, let me know so I can hook up with you in game.  It's a great time with friends.


Thursday, November 20, 2008

Currently
Fallout 3
By Bethesda
see related

Whoa...Chuck Norris the Orator?

I stole this directly from my good friend's website.  I couldn't help but drop it over here, though.  Chuck Norris lays out an extremely cogent argument here.  Read away.

  • Finally, and most convincingly, Chuck Norris himself has arrived to deliver a swift roundhouse kick into the face of hypocrisy: http://townhall.com/columnists/ChuckNorris/2008/11/18/if_democracy_doesnt_work,_try_anarchy

    If Democracy Doesn't Work, Try Anarchy
    by Chuck Norris
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Protestors of Proposition 8 in California (the marriage amendment) shoved aside a 69-year-old woman who was bearing a cross. They reportedly spit on her and stomped on her cross. They then aligned themselves in a human barricade, blocking the media from getting to or interviewing the woman.

    Prop. 8 supporter Jose Nunez, 37, was assaulted brutally while distributing yard signs to other supporters after church services at the St. Stanislaus Parish in Modesto.

    Calvary Chapel Chino Hills was spray painted by vandals after they learned that the church served as an official collection point for Prop. 8 petitions.

    Letters containing white powder (obviously mimicking anthrax) were sent to the Salt Lake City headquarters of the Mormon church and to a temple in Los Angeles. (Thankfully, the FBI said the substance was nontoxic.)

    The 25-year artistic director of the California Musical Theatre, who also happens to be a Mormon, was muscled to resign because of his $1,000 donation to the campaign to ban gay marriage in California.

    A pro-homosexual, pro-anarchy organization named Bash Back marched into the middle of a church service and flung fliers and condoms to the congregants. They also hung a banner from the balcony that featured two lesbians in provocative positions at the pulpit.

    And lastly, the tolerance-preaching activists also have taken their anger to the blogosphere, where posts have planted ideas ranging from burning churches to storming the citadels of government until our society is forced to overturn Prop. 8. You even can find donor blacklists online. The lists include everyone who financially backed Prop. 8 -- even those who gave as little as $46 -- with the obvious objective that these individuals will be bantered and boycotted for doing so.

    What's wrong with this picture? Lots.

    First, there's the obvious inability of the minority to accept the will of the majority. Californians have spoken twice, through the elections in 2000 and 2008. Nearly every county across the state (including Los Angeles County) voted to amend the state constitution in favor of traditional marriage.

    Nevertheless, bitter activists simply cannot accept the outcome as being truly reflective of the general public. So they have placed the brainwashing blame upon the crusading and misleading zealotry of those religious villains: the Catholics, evangelical Protestants, and especially Mormons, who allegedly are robbing the rights of American citizens by merely executing their right to vote and standing upon their moral convictions and traditional views.

    What's surprising (or maybe not so) is that even though 70 percent of African-Americans voted in favor of Proposition 8, protests against black churches are virtually nonexistent. And everyone knows exactly why: Such actions would be viewed as racist. Yet these opponents of Prop. 8 can protest vehemently and shout obscenities in front of Mormon temples without ever being accused of religious bigotry. There's a clear double standard in our society. Where are the hate-crime cops when religious conservatives need them?

    There were many of us who passionately opposed Obama, but you don't see us protesting in the streets or crying "unfair." Rather, we are submitting to a democratic process and now asking how we can support "our" president. Just because we don't like the election outcome doesn't give us the right to bully those who oppose us. In other words, if democracy doesn't tip our direction, we don't swing to anarchy. That would be like the Wild West, the resurrection of which seems to be happening in these postelection protests.

    I agree with Prison Fellowship's founder, Chuck Colson, who wrote: "This is an outrage. What hypocrisy from those who spend all of their time preaching tolerance to the rest of us! How dare they threaten and attack political opponents? We live in a democratic country, not a banana republic ruled by thugs."

    Regardless of one's opinion of Proposition 8, it is flat-out wrong and un-American to intimidate and harass individuals, churches and businesses that are guilty of nothing more than participating in the democratic process. Political protests are one thing, but when old-fashioned bullying techniques are used that restrict voting liberties and even prompt fear of safety, activists have crossed a line. There is a difference between respectfully advocating one's civil rights and demanding public endorsement of what many still consider to be unnatural sexual behavior through cruel coercion and repression tactics. One thing is for sure: The days of peaceful marches, such as those headed up by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seem to be long gone.

    The truth is that the great majority of Prop. 8 advocates are not bigots or hatemongers. They are American citizens who are following 5,000 years of human history and the belief of every major people and religion: Marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman. Their pro-Prop. 8 votes weren't intended to deprive any group of its rights; they were safeguarding their honest convictions regarding the boundaries of marriage.

    On Nov. 4, the pro-gay community obviously was flabbergasted that a state that generally leans left actually voted right when it came to holy matrimony. But that's exactly what happened; the majority of Californians -- red, yellow, black and white -- voted to define the margins of marriage as being between one man and one woman. California is the 30th state in our union to amend its constitution in doing so, joining Florida and Arizona in this election. Like it or not, it's the law now. The people have spoken.


Random Links that I'm into right now:
    Real Mutants!
    Videos of My Little Man!
    Really...Funny...T-shirts


Friday, November 07, 2008

Mighty Snake Slayer!

Ph34r m3!!1!  I r teh graetest fightar n teh omg world!

No, I did kill a snake, though, WITH MY BARE HANDS!!  (and a rock)  This snake decides it's a good time to die, I guess b/c it bites at my heel when I walked by in my sandals...wrong answer, snake...wrong answer.  It almost got me, dangit.  It was a young poisonous snake about 1.5 or 2 feet long.  I'm trying to find a picture of it while I'm writing this so you can see my latest body in my killing streak.  Yes, I know it would've killed me if it would've actually bit me.  About 1,000 guys have already told me that.  I hit it over the head with a rock, though, about 4 times.  Poor sap was snapping at the rock, which, obviously didn't turn out well.  So I ended it with a classic Bruce Lee flying heel grind.  Moral of the story...I'm the manliest man on this side of the world.

So, here's what's going on.  It rained here.  It rained here, and I realized I hate this place.  I used to hate Iraq because it was so dry.  Now I hate Iraq because it's so wet.  There is no place in this entire disgusting country that is not 3 inches or more of mud right now.  Every few steps you look over and say to yourself, "Why that patch there looks like sure footing, I'll go that route!"  Turns out, that route just hasn't been stepped in yet, so there aren't any footprints.  Yeah, those are the ones you sink in ankle deep.  Oh, and imagine fine wet silt mixed with oil.  Yeah, that crap's not coming off...ever.

Anyway, on to the good news.  I packed up all my things yesterday except the stuff that fits in my duffel bag and my carry on bag.  I'm getting pumped about it getting closer and closer to coming home.  Dangit...I just ran out of time!  I guess the good stuff will have to wait. :P

I'll update more later!


Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Free Form Update

So, I'm sitting in the MWR staring at the screen.  I really would like to write something, but I want to be clever about it.  I've been gazing at this blank text box for nearly 10 minutes, and nothing came up.  I can't tell you how many times that's happened before, and I've just closed the browser and added it to my "To Do" list for another day.  Obviously that strategy is not working.  I never update this puppy.  So here you are.  I'm going to put out a dull version of an update.  Basically, I'm just going to fire off what's been going on and what I'm wasting away my free time with.  [ edit: I thought of something fun I could do so just go ahead and disregard the above paragraph ]

                                                     
Interview with SPC Jeremiah Beene

So, Jeremiah...What's up, man?

What's up with me?  Well, I'm just chilling in Iraq.  It's still warm up here, but almost pleasantly so.  The dust storms are starting to get ridiculous, so that's always fun.  Other than that, it's the same old same old.

ZOMG, I heard you received a bronze star!  Is that true?
Why yes...yes it is true.  I'll have to fill you in on that crap when I get back to the States.  No worries...there'll be no shortage of stories to keep you entertained when I get back.

Do you have friends and stuff over there or are you basically a friendless loser like back at home?
Oh yeah....I mean yeah!  Dude, I've got so many friends I don't even have time to sleep because I'm busy partying all day and night, baby!  Woohoo!  ...well, crap that's not true.  But I do have a handful of really cool guys out here that I hang out with, just like back at home.  My goal is to upload some pictures of these guys soon. 

What do you do in your spare time over there?
Man, you wouldn't believe the stuff I end up doing over here to kill time.  Seriously.  You know I'm pretty much out of my mind as it is.  Imagine placing me in a scenario with way too much spare time and a captive audience.  Yeah, I get ridiculous.  Besides most of the stories I'll be telling you when I get home, I spend a lot of time playing video games.  The hottest two I've been playing recently are Call of Duty 4 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance.  I also kill time reading or playing silly things on the internet.  I read Cracked.com articles and play flash games.  The hottest flash game I'm playing right now is called Fantastic Contraption (www.fantasticcontraption.com).  Awesome...game.  Also, check out this guy on youtube called Sexy Phil.  He's hilarious (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi5MUo2CIZc).

I miss you so much, Jeremiah.  You're the greatest thing to ever happen to me!  I can't live without you!  Do you know when you'll be back in the States?
Wow...ummm...I'm speechless.  I'd love to tell you this is the first time I've heard this, but we all know it's not.  We don't actually know for sure, and even if I did, I couldn't put it on here, but suffice to say that we should be leaving Iraq in early to mid December.  I should be off of orders and back home just in time for Christmas if all goes well.

Can I send you wonderful goodies to make your last couple months awesome?
Unfortunately, that's a no-go.  Because of the fact that we move around SO much in the last month or two, we won't be able to get mail with any kind of reliability.  It's best just to save all your generosity up until I get home.  ;)

Did you say you were typing from an MWR computer?  What happened to yours?
Ha...umm...that's sort of a story.  There's some technical terms coming, so I'll use quotation marks when explaining it.  Imagine me making the little quoties with my fingers as you read this.  So, basically I "spilled" some Hajji Coke on the "keyboard" and it kind of "caused it to short out" because I'm what the professionals call "an idiot."  Well, if you can understand all that, they you get the gist of it...I'm sending the puppy back to Alienware where they will clean up my "spilled" "Coke."  Really, cramped living conditions combined with no furniture combined with a laptop and thirst = inevitable spillage.  I'm just a victim of poor circumstances!  So give me money and a place to live!  *checks skin*  Phew!  Just kidding, I still take responsibility for my actions.

Anything else worth mentioning?
Not really except that my wife is awesome.  She always has the most wonderful things to say.  She keeps me posted on even the littlest things that Elijah does which I absolutely love.  She also sends me care packages with pictures, movies, snacks, and even some art from my little man!  I love you babe!

Also my sister Michele and Super B are the crap.  They're always encouraging to talk to, and they've helped me through this deployment more times than I can remember.  Love you guys!  I'll do something nice for you when I get back.  I'd say I'd cook for you, but we all know how that would turn out.  Alright, peace out, guys!




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